Method and apparatus for facilitating user selection of an item category in an online auction

ABSTRACT

A method and apparatus are disclosed for facilitating category selection by a user in a computerized auction. A category field is provided, containing a plurality of category entries used to categorize an item in the auction. One category entry is selected in the category field and at least one subcategory field is provided, containing a plurality of subcategory entries also used to categorize the item in the auction, the subcategory entries corresponding to the one selected category entry of the plurality of category entries. At least one subcategory entry corresponding to the one selected category entry is further selected in the at least one subcategory field for further processing.

CLAIM OF PRIORITY

This application is a continuation of U.S. application Ser. No. 09/491,703 filed Jan. 26, 2000, which application is incorporated in its entirety herein by reference.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates generally to electronic commerce, and, more particularly, to a method and apparatus for facilitating user selection of item categories in an online auction environment.

BACKGROUND OF THE ART

The fundamental changes brought by the Internet and its subset, the World Wide Web (“Web”), have created a new electronic environment that is changing the way business is transacted. The ongoing revolution in the field of information delivery is driving the progress in various areas of everyday life. One area that has benefited from this technological development is the electronic auction area, which reflects the ability of individuals to sell items within an Internet marketplace environment.

Historically, auctions for sale of various items have proven to be very popular. Electronic auctions are also becoming increasingly popular due to their lack of complexity and ease of access. In an electronic auction environment, users connect to servers supporting the auctions and buy and/or sell items over one or more networks, for example including the Internet. Typically, in order to list the items in an efficient manner and to attract buyers, the seller has to specify the name of the item to be auctioned, a short description of the item, and a listing category. Since electronic auctions support an ever-increasing number of users selling a wide array of items, attempts have been made to design efficient interfaces between the users and the companies operating the auctions.

With respect to the category selection process, one previous approach uses a field, which includes all categories, and separate fields for respective subcategories. The user selects an appropriate category and then browses through subcategories until he or she finds the subcategory corresponding to the item to be auctioned. However, the process of browsing through subcategories is time-consuming. Also, the user has to repeat the process for every item that the user intends to auction. Another approach prompts the user to select a category from a listing displayed on a Web page, then a subcategory from a second listing displayed on a subsequent Web page, then a further subcategory, if available, from a third listing displayed in yet another Web page, until the final selection accurately characterizes the item to be auctioned. This approach is also time-consuming and requires a certain amount of effort to be completed.

What is needed is a method for facilitating user selection of an item category that is efficient and easy to use.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

A method and apparatus are disclosed for facilitating category selection by a user in a computerized auction. A category field is provided, containing a plurality of category entries used to categorize an item in the auction. One category entry is selected in the category field and at least one subcategory field is provided, containing a plurality of subcategory entries also used to categorize the item in the auction, the subcategory entries corresponding to the one selected category entry of the plurality of category entries. At least one subcategory entry corresponding to the one selected category entry is further selected in the at least one subcategory field for further processing.

Other features and advantages of the present invention will be apparent from the accompanying drawings, and from the detailed description, which follow below.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The present invention is illustrated by way of example and not limitation in the figures of the accompanying drawings, in which like references indicate similar elements and in which:

FIG. 1 illustrates a prior art computer network topology.

FIG. 2 illustrates the prior art architecture of a conventional computer system.

FIG. 3 illustrates the computer network architecture of one embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart representing the process of selecting an item category in an online auction from a user's perspective.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart representing the process of selecting an item category in an online auction from a server's perspective.

FIG. 6 a illustrates an exemplary table in the auction database, which stores item categories and subcategories.

FIG. 6 b illustrates an exemplary table in the auction database, which stores identification parameters for each category or subcategory.

FIG. 7 illustrates one embodiment of a user interface used in the process of selecting a item category in an online auction.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

A method and apparatus for facilitating user selection of an item category for an online auction is described. In the following description, for purposes of explanation, numerous specific details are set forth in order to provide a thorough understanding of the present invention. It will be evident, however, to one skilled in the art that the present invention may be practiced without these specific details.

Referring now to FIG. 1, a diagram illustrates the network environment in which the present invention operates. In this conventional network architecture, a server computer system 100 is coupled to a network 110, preferably a wide-area network. Wide-area network 110 includes the Internet, or other proprietary networks, such as America On-Line™, CompuServe™, Microsoft Network™, and Prodigy™, each of which are well known to those of ordinary skill in the art. Wide-area network 110 may also include conventional network backbones, long-haul telephone lines, Internet service providers, various levels of network routers, and other conventional means for routing data between computers. Using conventional network protocols, server 100 may communicate through wide-area network 110 to a plurality of client computer systems 120, 130, 140, 150, possibly connected through wide-area network 110 in various ways or directly connected to server 100. For example, as shown in FIG. 1, client 140 is connected directly to wide-area network 110 through direct or dial-up telephone or other network transmission line. Alternatively, client 130 may be connected to wide-area network 110 through a conventional modem pool 114. The modem pool 114 allows a plurality of client systems to connect with a smaller set of modems in modem pool 114 for connection through wide-area network 110. Those of ordinary skill in the art will understand that a plurality of clients, similar to client 130, may be connected to network 110 using the modem pool 114. Client 150 may also be connected directly to server 100, as shown in FIG. 1, or through a modem (not shown) in a conventional way. In another alternative network typology, wide-area network 110 is connected to a gateway computer 112. Gateway computer 112 is used to route data to client 120 through a local area network (LAN) 116. In this manner, client 120 can communicate with other clients (not shown) through LAN 116 or with server 100 through gateway 112 and wide-area network 110. Alternatively, LAN 116 may be directly connected to server 100.

Using one of a variety of network connection devices, server computer 100 can also communicate directly with client 150. In a particular implementation of this network configuration, a server computer 100 may operate as a web server if the World Wide Web (Web) portion of the Internet is used as wide-area network 110. Using the HTTP protocol and the HTML coding language across a network, web server 100 may communicate across the Web with client 150. In this configuration, client 150 uses a client application program known as a web browser, such as the Netscape™ Navigator™ browser, published by Netscape Corporation of Mountain View, Calif., the Internet Explorer™ browser, published by Microsoft Corporation of Redmond, Wash., the user interface of America On-Line™, or the web browser or HTML translator of any other conventional supplier. Using such conventional browsers and the Web, client 150 may access graphical and textual data or video, audio, or tactile data provided by server 100. Conventional means exist by which client 150 may supply information to web server 100 through the Web 110 and the web server 100 may return processed data to client 150.

Having briefly described one embodiment of the network environment in which the present invention operates, FIG. 2 illustrates an example of a computer system 200 illustrating an exemplary client 150 or server 100 computer system in which the features of the present invention may be implemented. Computer system 200 is comprised of a system bus 201, or other communications module similar to the system bus, for communicating information, and a processing module, such as processor 202, coupled with bus 201 for processing information. Computer system 200 further comprises a main memory 204, such as a random access memory (RAM) or other dynamic storage device, coupled to bus 201, for storing information and instructions to be executed by processor 202. Main memory 204 may also be used for storing temporary variables or other intermediate information during execution of instructions by processor 202. Computer system 200 also comprises a read only memory (ROM) 206, and/or other similar static storage device, coupled to bus 201, for storing static information and instructions for processor 202.

An optional data storage device 207, such as a magnetic disk or optical disk, and its corresponding drive may also be coupled to computer system 200 for storing information and instructions. System bus 201 is coupled to an external bus 210, which connects computer system 200 to other devices. Computer system 200 can also be coupled via bus 210 to a display device 221, such as a cathode ray tube (CRT) or a liquid crystal display (LCD), for displaying information to a computer user. For example, graphical or textual information may be presented to the user on display device 221. Typically, an alphanumeric input device 222, such as a keyboard including alphanumeric and other keys, is coupled to bus 210 for communicating information and/or command selections to processor 202. Another type of user input device is cursor control device 223, such as a conventional mouse, touch mouse, trackball, or other type of cursor direction keys, for communicating direction information and command selection to processor 202 and for controlling cursor movement on display 221. A fully loaded computer system may optionally include video, camera, speakers, sound card, and many other similar conventional options.

Alternatively, the client 150 can be implemented as a network computer or thin client device, such as the WebTV Networks™ Internet terminal or the Oracle™ NC. Client 150 may also be a laptop or palm-top computing device, such as the Palm Pilot™. Such a network computer or thin client device does not necessarily include all of the devices and features of the above-described exemplary computer system. However, the functionality of the present invention may nevertheless be implemented with such devices.

A communication device 224 is also coupled to bus 210 for accessing remote computers or servers, such as web server 100, or other servers via the Internet, for example. The communication device 224 may include a modem, a network interface card, or other well known interface devices, such as those used for interfacing with Ethernet, Token-ring, or other types of networks. In any event, in this manner, the computer system 200 may be coupled to a number of servers 100 via a conventional network infrastructure such as the infrastructure illustrated in FIG. 1 and described above.

The present invention includes various processing steps, which will be described below. The steps of the present invention may be embodied in machine or computer executable instructions. The instructions can be used to cause a general purpose or special purpose processor, which is programmed with the instructions to perform the steps of the present invention. Alternatively, the steps of the present invention may be performed by specific hardware components that contain hardwired logic for performing the steps, or by any combination of programmed computer components and custom hardware components. While embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the Web, the method and apparatus described herein is equally applicable to other network infrastructures or other data communications systems.

Referring now to FIG. 3, one embodiment of the network configuration of the present invention is illustrated. In one embodiment, a web server 310 is coupled with web client 330 through the wide-area network 320, such as the Internet. As described above, web server 310 and web client 330 may be implemented as conventional computer systems. Software application programs for implementing the present invention run on web server 310 and web client 330. As shown in FIG. 3, the server portion of the application software of the present invention is shown as server application 312. Also illustrated in FIG. 3 is the client side portion of the application software of the present invention, shown as client application 332. In addition, in one embodiment, web server 310 has access to a user database 318, or an information store, for storing and managing user information. As shown in FIG. 3, the user database 318 may be operated as a database system independent of, but accessible to, the web server 310 through a local area network (not shown) or other means of communication. Alternatively, user database 318 may be incorporated into web server 310.

Generally, the present invention provides a method and apparatus for facilitating user selection of item categories in an online auction, made accessible across a wide-area network 320, such as the Internet. Referring again to FIG. 3, the client application software 332 includes at least one basic functional component, shown in one embodiment as client browser 336, which contains display and category selection capabilities. One embodiment of the present invention is implemented in Javascript language as shown below:

According to one embodiment of the present invention, items being the object of an online auction are classified in categories and subcategories. As illustrated in FIG. 6 a, each category is stored in a field 610 of a table 620 residing in database 318. Similarly, each subcategory resides in a different field 610 in the same database 318. The server application 312 accesses the table 620 in database 318 to retrieve and send stored category and subcategory information to the client application 332. As shown in FIG. 6 b, each field 610 of one category or subcategory separately stores a category number or numeric I.D. of the category or subcategory, a name of the category or subcategory, a numeric I.D. of the parent category or subcategory, and two numeric I.D.s of categories or subcategories stored in adjacent fields.

In one embodiment, the client browser 336 receives the category and subcategory information and displays the information hierarchically in graphically distinct areas, as shown in FIG. 7. Each category is displayed in a category field 710. The category field 710 is a page mark-up language document and contains multiple categories, arranged in alphabetical order. In one embodiment, the category field 710 contains twelve categories. Alternatively, other categories may be included within the category field 710. Subcategories are displayed in several subcategory fields. A first subcategory field 720, a page mark-up language document similar to the category field, is adjacent to category field 710 and contains subcategories of each category displayed in field 710. In one embodiment, the number of subcategories is different for each displayed category. A second subcategory field 730 contains subcategories of each subcategory displayed in field 720. A third subcategory field 740 contains subcategories of each subcategory displayed in field 730. A category number associated with each category and its respective subcategories is also displayed by the browser 336. The category number enables the user to select the associated category and subcategories without going through the entire selection process as shown in detail below.

The category selection process is implemented using the client browser 336 and the server application 312. In one embodiment, the client browser 336 and the server application 312 operate for facilitating category selection by the user as shown in FIGS. 4 and 5 and described in further detail below.

FIG. 4 shows a flowchart representing the process of selecting an item category in an online auction from a user's perspective. Referring to FIG. 4, in one embodiment, the client browser 336 within the client application 332 receives category hierarchy data from the server application 312 at step 405. The category hierarchy data includes category and subcategory information. Using the category data, the client browser 336 performs the category selection process as follows. Once the user is ready to select an item category, at step 410, a decision is made whether a category number is available to the user. If the user has previously selected the same category and subcategories and has stored the category number associated with the category and the respective subcategories, the user enters the category number at step 420. As a result, based on the category number, the respective category and related subcategories are selected and displayed by the client browser 336 in the respective fields.

If the category number or numeric I.D. is not available, then, at step 430, the user selects a category from a list of available categories displayed in an interactive category area. Next, the client browser 336 performs a test whether the selected category has related subcategories at step 440. If the selected category has no related subcategories, then the user has the option to record the category number of the selected category at step 445 and may proceed further with the item registration process. Alternatively, if related subcategories exist, the user selects a subcategory from a list of available subcategories related to the selected category at step 450. The list of available subcategories is displayed in an interactive area adjacent to the category area. A test whether the subcategory has no further related subcategories is performed by the client browser at step 460. If no further related subcategories exist, then the user may record the category number of the selected combination of category and subcategory at step 470 and proceed further with the item registration process. Otherwise, if further subcategories related to the selected subcategory are still available, the user goes back to step 450 and repeats the subcategory selection process. The embodiment described above allows the client browser 336 to perform the category selection process using category data and Javascript code supplied by the server application 312. Alternatively, the server application 312 may interact with the user during the selection process and may perform other functions as described in further detail below.

FIG. 5 shows a flowchart representing an alternate embodiment of the process of selecting an item category in an online auction from the server's perspective. Referring to FIG. 5, a decision is made at step 510 whether a category number is available to the user. If the user has previously accessed the auction and has selected the same item category and subcategories, and a category number is available, then the server application 312 receives the category number at step 520. The server application 312 accesses the user database 318 and retrieves at step 530 the category information corresponding to the category number, as well as any related subcategories. The server application 312 subsequently forwards the information to the client application 332 and the category and subcategories are displayed for the user at step 535.

If the category number is not available, then the server application 312 receives a category selection from the client application 332 at step 540. At step 550, a test whether the category has any subcategories is performed. The server application 312 accesses the database 318 and determines if related subcategories exist. If no subcategories exist for the selected category, the server application 312 retrieves and returns the category number to the client application 332, the category number being displayed to the user at step 555. If the selected category has related subcategories, the server application 312 retrieves the subcategories from database 318 and forwards the information to the client application 332. The subcategories are then displayed at step 560. Once the user selects a subcategory, the server application 312 receives the subcategory selection at step 570, and subsequently accesses the database 318 at step 580 to determine if the selected subcategory has any further subcategories. If no further subcategories exist, the server application 312 retrieves and returns the category number to the client application 332, the category number being displayed to the user at step 585. Alternatively, if the selected subcategory has a new set of subcategories, steps 560 and 570 are repeated for the new set of subcategories.

Thus, a method and apparatus for facilitating user selection of item categories in an online auction has been described. Although the present invention has been described with reference to specific exemplary embodiments, it will be evident that various modifications and changes may be made to these embodiments without departing from the broader spirit and scope of the invention. Accordingly, the specification and drawings are to be regarded in an illustrative rather than a restrictive sense. 

1. (canceled)
 2. A method comprising: receiving an identifier; determining that the identifier is associated with a selection in a user interface of a combination of a category and a subcategory under which items included in listings in a networked marketplace environment are classified; and based on the receiving of the identifier and the determining that the identifier is associated with the selection in the user interface of the combination of the category and the subcategory, automatically reselecting in the user interface the combination of the category and the subcategory.
 3. The method of claim 2, wherein the determining that the identifier is associated with the selection in the user interface of the combination of the category and the subcategory is based on the received identifier matching a stored identifier, the stored identifier having being previously associated with the selection in the user interface of the category and the subcategory.
 4. The method of claim 2, further comprising, based on the reselecting in the user interface of the combination of the category and the subcategory, completing a registration of a listing of an item as being classified under the reselected category and subcategory.
 5. The method of claim 2, wherein the association of the stored identifier with the selection in the user interface of the category and subcategory is based on inputs received when information pertaining to categories and subcategories is represented in graphically distinct areas of the user interface.
 6. The method of claim 5, wherein the graphically distinct areas include a category area and one or more subcategory areas.
 7. The method of claim 5, wherein the information pertaining to the categories and subcategories is derived from database records corresponding to the categories and subcategories.
 8. the method of claim 7, wherein the database records include fields identifying categories or subcategories that are adjacent to other categories or other subcategories.
 9. A system comprising: one or more modules implemented by one or more processors, the one or more modules configured to: receive an identifier; determine that the identifier is associated with a selection in a user interface of a combination of a category and a subcategory under which items included in listings in a networked marketplace environment are classified; and based on the receiving of the identifier and the determining that the identifier is associated with the selection in the user interface of the combination of the category and the subcategory, automatically reselecting in the user interface the combination of the category and the subcategory.
 10. The system of claim 9, wherein the determining that the identifier is associated with the selection in the user interface of the combination of the category and the subcategory is based on the received identifier matching a stored identifier, the stored identifier having being previously associated with the selection in the user interface of the category and the subcategory.
 11. The system of claim 9, wherein the one or more modules are further configured to, based on the reselecting in the user interface of the combination of the category and the subcategory, completing a registration of a listing of an item as being classified under the reselected category and subcategory.
 12. The system of claim 9, wherein the association of the stored identifier with the selection in the user interface of the category and subcategory is based on inputs received when information pertaining to categories and subcategories is represented in graphically distinct areas of the user interface.
 13. The system of claim 12, wherein the graphically distinct areas include a category area and one or more subcategory areas.
 14. The system of claim 12, wherein the information pertaining to the categories and subcategories is derived from database records corresponding to the categories and subcategories.
 15. the system of claim 14, wherein the database records include fields identifying categories or subcategories that are adjacent to other categories or other subcategories.
 16. A non-transitory computer-readable medium comprising a set of instructions that, when executed by at least one processor of a computer system, cause the computer system to perform operations, the operations comprising: receiving an identifier; determining that the identifier is associated with a selection in a user interface of a combination of a category and a subcategory under which items included in listings in a networked marketplace environment are classified; and based on the receiving of the identifier and the determining that the identifier is associated with the selection in the user interface of the combination of the category and the subcategory, automatically reselecting in the user interface the combination of the category and the subcategory.
 17. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 16, wherein the determining that the identifier is associated with the selection in the user interface of the combination of the category and the subcategory is based on the received identifier matching a stored identifier, the stored identifier having being previously associated with the selection in the user interface of the category and the subcategory.
 18. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 16, the operations further comprising, based on the reselecting in the user interface of the combination of the category and the subcategory, completing a registration of a listing of an item as being classified under the reselected category and subcategory.
 19. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 16, wherein the association of the stored identifier with the selection in the user interface of the category and subcategory is based on inputs received when information pertaining to categories and subcategories is represented in graphically distinct areas of the user interface.
 20. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 19, wherein the graphically distinct areas include a category area and one or more subcategory areas.
 21. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 19, wherein the information pertaining to the categories and subcategories is derived from database records corresponding to the categories and subcategories. 